Alana Simone Cook (born April 11, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for NWSL club OL Reign and the United States national team.[2]
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alana Simone Cook[1] | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1997-04-11) April 11, 1997 (age 25) | |||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Worcester, Massachusetts, United States | |||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Defender | |||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | OL Reign | |||||||||||||||
Number | 4 | |||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
The Pennington School | ||||||||||||||||
Match Fit Academy Colchesters | ||||||||||||||||
College career | ||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
2015–2018 | Stanford Cardinal | 93 | (5) | |||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
2019–2021 | Paris Saint-Germain | 21 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2020 | → OL Reign (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2021– | OL Reign | 38 | (0) | |||||||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||
2013 | United States U17 | |||||||||||||||
2014–2016 | United States U20 | |||||||||||||||
2017–2019 | United States U23 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2019– | United States | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 2, 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 10, 2022 |
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts and raised in Worcester and Far Hills, New Jersey,[3][4][5] Cook attended The Pennington School, a boarding school in Pennington, New Jersey, where she helped guide the varsity soccer team to regional and state titles.[6][7] She was named 2013 New Jersey Prep Player of the Year and 2015 NSCAA High School Scholar Player of the Year.[6]
Twice named NSCAA Youth All-American,[8] Cook played in the NSCAA High School All-America Game and earned Best XI honors.[6] She played club soccer for Match Fit Academy Colchesters and won the 2013 U.S. Youth Soccer National League title with the team.[9]
Cook began representing the United States on its youth national teams as a teenager.[6]
Cook attended the Stanford University from 2015 to 2018 where she earned a degree in symbolic systems and was a four year starter for the Stanford Cardinal women's soccer team. She captained the team in her final two seasons. She was named Pac-12 Conference Defender of the Year and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in 2018.[6]
In January 2019, Cook elected to forgo the 2019 NWSL College Draft despite her first round draft grade[10] and instead chose to pursue opportunities in Europe, signing a three-year deal with French Division 1 Féminine team Paris Saint-Germain.[11]
On June 16, 2020, Cook joined OL Reign on a short-term loan for the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.[12]
On June 7, 2021, OL Reign signed Cook to a three-year contract with an option for an extra year on a permanent transfer from PSG.[13]
During the 2021 season, Cook was a starting defender in all 20 matches of the regular season.[2] The Reign finished in second place during the regular season with a 13–8–3 record.[14] After advancing to the NWSL Playoffs, they were eliminated by eventual champions Washington Spirit.[15] Cook was named to the league's Best XI.[16]
In 2022, Cook helped OL Reign finish in first place during the regular season winning the NWSL Shield.[2][17]
Cook is a former United States youth international having captained the United States U17s. She first made the jump to the U20 level in 2014 and the U23 level in 2017.[18] She later captained the United States U23s in 2019.[19][20]
Cook is eligible to represent England because of her British father, and she received her first senior international call-up in September 2019 as a training player for England's friendlies against Portugal and Brazil.[21]
Cook received her first call-up to the United States national team on October 31, 2019.[22]
Club | Season | League | Cup[lower-alpha 1] | Continental | Other[lower-alpha 2] | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Paris Saint-Germain | 2018–19 | D1F | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
2019–20 | D1F | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
2020–21 | D1F | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | |
Total | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||
OL Reign (loan) | 2020 | NWSL | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
OL Reign | 2021 | NWSL | 19 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
2022 | NWSL | 19 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
Total | 38 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 1 | ||
Career total | 59 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 81 | 2 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
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United States | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | 0 | |
2021 | 3 | 0 | |
2022 | 15 | 0 | |
Total | 19 | 0 |
Individual
OL Reign – current squad | |
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United States squad – 2022 CONCACAF W Championship winners (9th title) | ||
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Pac-12 Conference Women's Soccer Player of the Year | |
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Player of the Year |
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Forward of the Year | |
Midfielder of the Year | |
Defender of the Year | |
Goalkeeper of the Year |
2021 NWSL Teams of the Year | |
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Best XI | |
Second XI |
2022 NWSL Teams of the Year | |
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Best XI | |
Second XI |